Why Spotify Allows Unlimited Free Music

THE music streaming service, Spotify, now allows unlimited free listening. This is seen as a great step forward: the company’s technology is getting better, they’re getting better at selling ads and all that sort of stuff. This may or may not be the actual reason they’re lifting their previous limits though:

Spotify’s advertising engine and paid customer conversion funnel are finally working well enough that today it eliminated all limits on free, ad-supported web listening in all countries. It’s an important milestone for the scalability and sustainability of Spotify’s business that contrasts with other streaming music services like Ex.fm and Rdio that are stumbling or shutting down.

Yeah, well, all of that could be true of course. But it does all sound rather like it came from a company press release, doesn’t it? “We’re doing great so we’re being nice to our customers” sorta stuff.

The move comes less than a week before the high-profile launch of Beats, which is challenging Spotify with an enormous marketing campaign that includes promotional deals with AT&T and Ellen DeGeneres and is expected to include an advertisement that airs during the Super Bowl. Unlike Spotify, Beats will launch without a free tier after a 7-day trial, making it harder for them to attract casual users and then convert them to paying customers.

Oh, right, this change comes just before a large and well financed competitor launches? Offering something that that new company won’t offer at all?

So, given that we all know that capitalists are greedy thieving bastards who’ll do anything for a profit which way are we going to run here?